Ok, my sis-in-law is going to sell her 98 Jetta and since she LOVES it she wants to get another VW. I told her to hold off because I don't think they are reliable. So, are they? She's thinking about a new Golf or Jetta. Are they still prone to electrical issues? Anything to look out for? How about a 2-year old VW?
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July 14, 2010 6:45 p.m. DrBoost Dork
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July 14, 2010 8:19 p.m. rustyvw HalfDork
Does the check engine light bother her?
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July 14, 2010 8:24 p.m. Jensenman SuperDork
VW CEL's are a good source of Vitamin D.
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July 14, 2010 8:41 p.m. Marty! Dork
Jensenman wrote:
VW CEL's are a good source of Vitamin D.
LOL'z, magazine worthy
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July 14, 2010 8:47 p.m. curtis73 HalfDork
If she thinks her 98 is reliable, then she has reality issues
Expect frequent A/C headaches, and a compressor replacement is a 4.9 hour labor listing. At my shop for the cost of doing one A/C compressor kit I can completely remanufacture a Honda transmission - including R&R, fluid, parts, the works.
Timing belt jobs are labor intensive, difficult, knuckle-busting, and very frustrating. You can't install a new timing belt on any of the 4-cyl VWs without removing either the cam pulley or tensioner pulley.
Every single vacuum line, breather hose, and emissions piece under the hood is made of super-thin corrugated plastic or a very low grade of poly-rubber. When they fail, there is no generic replacement, its all very failure-prone and you never get one apart without destroying three others.
Auto trannys are crap. Parts are expensive, they're tough to build, and have constant solenoid/valve body issues.
Its a shame because the engines themselves are bulletproof.... just everything on them is designed to fail at 80k and almost all of those parts must be purchased at VW. If she needs a secondary air injection hose (which she will at 60-80k) tell her to plan on spending $180 for the part.
VW also uses very odd 12-point inverted torx heads on many things. Getting them out requires special tools and lots of prayer.
Put it this way... as a repair shop manager that literally works on anything - I LOOOVE VWs from 98-06. Without them I couldn't pay the bills.
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July 14, 2010 8:57 p.m. John Brown SuperDork
While I believe Curtis gets EVERY car we do not work on they are not terrible. Buy a 2005 MKIV Jetta or Golf. Most of the bad issues are resolved and they are fairly decent to drive. I REALLY like mine, 18" wheels and all.
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July 14, 2010 9:33 p.m. z31maniac Dork
I'm scared of them.
That's why I picked up a new Speed 3 instead of GTI.
Well that and being down 63hp.
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July 15, 2010 9:55 a.m. Tetzuoe Reader
Jensenman wrote:
VW CEL's are a good source of Vitamin D.
If you notice your check engine light is not on, ensure the LED has not burnt out, as its service life is only approximately 100,000 hours.
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July 15, 2010 9:56 a.m. JeepinMatt Dork
My girlfriend has an '07 Beetle. I'm not impressed by its reliabilty, to say the least, but it isn't the worst compared to the '99 Grand Cherokee and '05 E46 that my parents had.
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July 15, 2010 10:01 a.m. splitime Reader
For this one... the answer is Mazda3?
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July 15, 2010 12:57 p.m. DrBoost Dork
I talked to her last night and tried to convince her to look into Japanese cars. She said they feel like tin cans. I think her opinion is stuck in the 80's though as the newer ones are quite nice. And yes, I'm terrified of VW's as well.
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July 15, 2010 2:21 p.m. JeepinMatt Dork
DrBoost wrote:
I talked to her last night and tried to convince her to look into Japanese cars. She said they feel like tin cans. I think her opinion is stuck in the 80's though as the newer ones are quite nice. And yes, I'm terrified of VW's as well.
Test drive time. She hasn't been in enough old German cars if she thinks of only old Japanese cars as tin cans.
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July 15, 2010 2:41 p.m. Cotton HalfDork
In reply to JeepinMatt:
My mid 80s Porsches feel much more solid than any recent Japanese car I've been in....maybe, however, it's because I was blinded by boredom.
If chick wants a VW (and you don't have to work on it) I say let her get what she wants. I would rather have a VW over a newer Toyota or Honda as well. Then again I do have the ability to work on them myself.
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July 15, 2010 2:46 p.m. ahutson03 New Reader
Never had any problems with any of the later model VWs i've had and I love the MKVI Golf I have right now...
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July 15, 2010 3:20 p.m. JeepinMatt Dork
Cotton wrote:
In reply to JeepinMatt:
My mid 80s Porsches feel much more solid than any recent Japanese car I've been in....maybe, however, it's because I was blinded by boredom.
If chick wants a VW (and you don't have to work on it) I say let her get what she wants. I would rather have a VW over a newer Toyota or Honda as well. Then again I do have the ability to work on them myself.
I guess I led you right into that one. I knew someone would mention Porsches and BMWs of the era, and they feel almost rock solid. But old Beetles and the like, not so much. Just my point that lots of countries have got some cheap people movers that are more or less tin cans, at least they used to. I would say that my '91 E30 feels more solid than my sister's '05 Mazda 3 though.
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July 15, 2010 4:26 p.m. mattmacklind SuperDork
Well, there's leasing as an option. The car is unloaded before the warrantee expires. I leased an 07 Jetta 2.5 5 speed. I thought it was a nice car, not great, but a nice, competent car and it looked good, too. Loved the way it rode and the seats were near perfect, great ergonomics generally. Just my 0.02. I almost forgot, I've only ever leased a car from VW, but the process was easy and overall very reasonable. Turn in was easy, too.
